Nominations of Gilbert B. Kaplan, Matthew Bassett, and Robert Charrow
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S. HRG. 115–290 NOMINATIONS OF GILBERT B. KAPLAN, MATTHEW BASSETT, AND ROBERT CHARROW HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON FINANCE UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON THE NOMINATIONS OF GILBERT B. KAPLAN, TO BE UNDER SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE; MATTHEW BASSETT, TO BE AS- SISTANT SECRETARY FOR LEGISLATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES; AND ROBERT CHARROW, TO BE GENERAL COUNSEL, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES AUGUST 3, 2017 ( Printed for the use of the Committee on Finance U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 30–926—PDF WASHINGTON : 2018 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:32 Aug 01, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 R:\DOCS\30926.000 TIM COMMITTEE ON FINANCE ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah, Chairman CHUCK GRASSLEY, Iowa RON WYDEN, Oregon MIKE CRAPO, Idaho DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan PAT ROBERTS, Kansas MARIA CANTWELL, Washington MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming BILL NELSON, Florida JOHN CORNYN, Texas ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey JOHN THUNE, South Dakota THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware RICHARD BURR, North Carolina BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia SHERROD BROWN, Ohio ROB PORTMAN, Ohio MICHAEL F. BENNET, Colorado PATRICK J. TOOMEY, Pennsylvania ROBERT P. CASEY, JR., Pennsylvania DEAN HELLER, Nevada MARK R. WARNER, Virginia TIM SCOTT, South Carolina CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri BILL CASSIDY, Louisiana CHRIS CAMPBELL, Staff Director JOSHUA SHEINKMAN, Democratic Staff Director (II) VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:32 Aug 01, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 0486 Sfmt 0486 R:\DOCS\30926.000 TIM C O N T E N T S OPENING STATEMENTS Page Hatch, Hon. Orrin G., a U.S. Senator from Utah, chairman, Committee on Finance .................................................................................................................. 1 Wyden, Hon. Ron, a U.S. Senator from Oregon .................................................... 3 CONGRESSIONAL WITNESS Boozman, Hon. John, a U.S. Senator from Arkansas ........................................... 6 ADMINISTRATION NOMINEES Kaplan, Gilbert B., nominated to be Under Secretary for International Trade, Department of Commerce, Washington, DC ...................................................... 8 Bassett, Matthew, nominated to be Assistant Secretary for Legislation, De- partment of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC ............................ 9 Charrow, Robert, nominated to be General Counsel, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC .............................................................. 11 ALPHABETICAL LISTING AND APPENDIX MATERIAL Bassett, Matthew: Testimony .......................................................................................................... 9 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 29 Biographical information ................................................................................. 30 Responses to questions from committee members ......................................... 33 Boozman, Hon. John: Testimony .......................................................................................................... 6 Brown, Hon. Sherrod: ‘‘Trump Can Kill Ohio Plan to Save Health Exchanges,’’ by Marty Schladen, The Columbus Dispatch, August 1, 2017 ................................... 35 Charrow, Robert: Testimony .......................................................................................................... 11 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 36 Biographical information ................................................................................. 37 Responses to questions from committee members ......................................... 49 Hatch, Hon. Orrin G.: Opening statement ........................................................................................... 1 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 51 Kaplan, Gilbert B.: Testimony .......................................................................................................... 8 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 52 Biographical information ................................................................................. 53 Responses to questions from committee members ......................................... 60 Wyden, Hon. Ron: Opening statement ........................................................................................... 3 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 77 (III) VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:32 Aug 01, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 R:\DOCS\30926.000 TIM VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:32 Aug 01, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 R:\DOCS\30926.000 TIM NOMINATIONS OF GILBERT B. KAPLAN, TO BE UNDER SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE; MATTHEW BASSETT, TO BE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR LEGISLATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES; AND ROBERT CHARROW, TO BE GENERAL COUNSEL, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES THURSDAY, AUGUST 3, 2017 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON FINANCE, Washington, DC. The hearing was convened, pursuant to notice, at 10:05 a.m., in room SD–215, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Orrin G. Hatch (chairman of the committee) presiding. Present: Senators Grassley, Crapo, Thune, Cassidy, Wyden, Sta- benow, Cantwell, Menendez, Carper, Brown, Bennet, Casey, War- ner, and McCaskill. Also present: Republican Staff: Mark Prater, Deputy Staff Direc- tor and Chief Tax Counsel; Kimberly Brandt, Chief Health-care In- vestigative Counsel; Nicholas Wyatt, Tax and Nominations Profes- sional Staff Member; Rory Heslington, Professional Staff Member; Shane Warren, Chief International Trade Counsel; and Jeff Wrase, Chief Economist. Democratic Staff: Michael Evans, General Coun- sel; Ian Nicholson, Investigator; Elissa Alben, International Trade Counsel; Elizabeth Jurinka, Chief Health Advisor; Greta Peisch, International Trade Counsel; Tiffany Smith, Chief Tax Counsel; and Jayme White, Chief Advisor for International Competiveness and Innovation. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ORRIN G. HATCH, A U.S. SENATOR FROM UTAH, CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON FINANCE The CHAIRMAN. Welcome to all of you folks to this morning’s hearing. Today we will consider the nominations of Gilbert Kaplan to be Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, Matthew Bassett to be Assistant Secretary for Legislation at Health and (1) VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:32 Aug 01, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 R:\DOCS\30926.000 TIM 2 Human Services, and Robert Charrow to serve as General Counsel of Health and Human Services. I would like to extend a warm welcome to each of these nominees here today, and I want to extend congratulations to each of you for your nominations and thank you for your willingness to serve in these important positions. In today’s hearing I want to stress two major themes: integrity and responsiveness. These are both important elements for any po- sition in government, particularly for a Senate-confirmed position. They are absolutely essential for the positions under review today. The Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade is re- sponsible for promoting American trade around the globe and en- forcing U.S. trade laws. If confirmed, Mr. Kaplan will need to be a strong advocate for American exporters while holding our trading partners accountable for improper trade practices. There is a good deal of work that needs to be done to improve compliance with our Nation’s anti-dumping and countervailing duty laws, but that mission should not come at the expense of seek- ing to expand opportunities for U.S. goods and services providers. It will be critical that the Department of Commerce work with Con- gress and consult closely with members of the committee. Frankly, there is room for improvement here, but I am confident Mr. Kaplan understands the importance of the Department’s re- sponsibilities to Congress and will work with Secretary Ross to en- sure those responsibilities are met. As for the nominees to the Department of Health and Human Services, these are very, very important nominees as well. Your re- sponsibilities are similarly connected to themes of integrity and re- sponsiveness. Mr. Bassett has been nominated to serve as an Assistant Sec- retary with the specific function of performing legislative affairs. This means that both the agency as well as Congress will rely on you to ensure that we are kept well informed of the goings-on at HHS. This will be critical over the next few months. Obviously, the ef- fort to fix our Nation’s health-care system suffered a setback re- cently. The recent series of events intensifies the importance of this position, as cooperation between Congress and HHS will likely be more essential than ever. Members of the Finance Committee expect to be in constant con- tact with HHS and need timely and responsive answers to ques- tions and submitted inquiries. We hope that Mr. Bassett will com- mit today to providing answers. Finally, I would like to highlight the critical importance of integ- rity for the position of General Counsel at HHS, for which Mr. Charrow has been nominated. Now, Mr. Charrow certainly has a considerable amount of experience as a practicing lawyer, but the position of General Counsel at HHS brings